


kyuchul | the bad luck club

by plincess_cho (ai_hao)



Category: Super Junior
Genre: Gen, flangst? i guess?, hopefully this worked, kyuchul, non-au, oof all of my feels for these two, slight changkyu bc always
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-16
Updated: 2019-01-16
Packaged: 2019-10-10 23:21:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17435423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ai_hao/pseuds/plincess_cho
Summary: It's a weird thing to have in common, almost dying. (Hyung, is it going to be okay?)





	kyuchul | the bad luck club

**Author's Note:**

> This is a parallel fic to [Hope in the Darkness](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19338697).

Less than eight months after Heechul’s release from the hospital, he gets the call that Jungsoo, Donghee, Hyukjae, and Kyuhyun have been in a car accident. Donghee and Hyukjae are fine, Jungsoo is in surgery, and Kyuhyun isn’t expected to live through the night. In that moment, all of the memories of nights spent in a hospital bed, unable to even get himself up to use the restroom, come rushing back. He wants to bite his tongue to keep himself from feeling all of the phantom pain in his legs, but he’d already gotten that stitched up once. There’s not much use for a dancer with metal rods in his legs as it is, but a singer with stitches in his tongue really is worth nothing.

Donghae is crying again, and Heechul doesn’t really know what to do. If Jungsoo were here, he’d hug him tightly and assure him that everything would be okay. Jungsoo is good at dealing with situations like these, which is why it’s best that he’s the leader of this ragtag bunch of misfits rather than Heechul. After all, Jungsoo had been the one that Donghae’s father had called in those last few weeks before he’d slipped away, asking Jungsoo to take care of his son.

And now Donghae’s about to lose another dad, and Heechul’s just standing there, leaning on his crutches and cursing under his breath.

*

Kyuhyun makes it, but just barely. It takes a few days for him to regain consciousness, a few days for him to stabilize, and a few more days for him to recover from the shock. Everyone wants to visit him, and they all beg the managers to take them. Heechul can’t help but laugh sardonically. There had been a grand total of three members who had visited him in the hospital during his stay, yet he supposes that nearly dying has managed to finally endear this skinny new kid with the big head to the others. 

Heechul finally goes to visit him after a set of his own doctor’s appointments. The smell of antiseptic and disease clog his nostrils, and he forces himself to breathe through his mouth to avoid inhaling any more bad memories.

Kyuhyun is propped up on the hospital bed looking like a shadow of his former self. He looks up when Heechul walks in and offers a weak smile. “Hyung, you came.”

Heechul grunts in return, his insides churning at the reminders of when it had been him in that bed with the ill-fitting hospital gown and IV’s poking into each arm with nothing to do but watch movies and think about his bleak future. He sets his bag on the chair next to Kyuhyun’s bed and pulls out a portable DVD player and a stack of movies that he had gotten his manager to acquire. “Thought these might help pass the time,” he says.

“Good, I was getting a little tired of the news,” Kyuhyun replies. 

“Yeah, you realize that watching TV all day gets old really fast,” Heechul says. 

Kyuhyun watches as he sets up the DVD player on the tray attached to his bed. “Is it weird? Being back?” he asks suddenly.

Heechul stops fiddling with the device to look at him. “Yeah, it’s weird.” 

“You didn’t have to come.”

Heechul snorts. “Of course I did, kid. Nobody came to visit me, and I wasn’t about to let that happen to you.”

Kyuhyun nods solemnly. “I-I-I’m sorry about that, I should have--”

“Forget it,” Heechul says, waving him off. “What movie do you want to watch?”

Kyuhyun falls asleep in the first twenty minutes, and Heechul doesn’t blame him. He knows more than anyone how exhausting it is to heal. He switches out the historical drama Kyuhyun had chosen for something with more action and tries to find a comfortable position in the chair. And by the time the manager comes to collect him, Heechul too has fallen fast asleep.

*

They’re sitting off to the side as the others  [ run through the dance ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McT7BwX7T3A) for their new comeback one more time. Kyuhyun looks absolutely miserable: his face is gaunt from losing so much weight, and his head hangs down as if he doesn’t have the strength to lift it. The company brought him back too soon, but there’s nothing any of them can do about it. They’d already delayed this comeback an entire year thanks to Heechul’s accident the year before. If they delay it again… Who knows what will happen to them?

The music blares through the stereo system, and the members manage to perform most of the powerful choreography before someone screws up. The choreo director calls for a cut, and everyone takes a break. Even in the dark basement, Heechul can see sweat dripping down half the faces before him. They’re all tired, and having two members on medical standby doesn’t exactly help lift the mood.

They really do look like half a hospital ward, Heechul thinks. He’s still hobbling around, his gait unsteady and his dancing even more off-kilter. The doctors want him to use his crutches more often, but they hurt his arms and he doesn’t need any more pain. Jungsoo is still recovering from his injuries, the scars on his face still visible, but Hyukjae and Donghee are almost back to normal. They still grow tense every time they ride in the van together, and Heechul can’t blame them. 

The five-minute break ends, and the choreo director calls them together once more. He announces that they’ll run through the choreo one more time with the stand-in dancers, and then they’ll try adding in Heechul and Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun grimaces at the thought, his pale face going even whiter, and Heechul steels himself for the pain that is sure to come.

It’s a disaster of a run-through, but they finish the dance. Donghae misses his cue, Siwon steps on Sungmin’s foot, and Kyuhyun nearly falls through the privacy panels at the back of the room that he’s meant to hide behind. The director gives an exasperated sigh and looks at them all with thinly-veiled derision before announcing that they’re done for the day. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief and reaches for their water bottles.

Kyuhyun slowly shuffles over to collect his bag, groaning as he reaches down to pick it up. Even that effort exhausts him, and he collapses into his chair to regain his breath.

“Are you okay, kid?” Heechul asks. He knows the answer is  _ no _ . It’s been  _ no _ every single day since April 19th, and Heechul doesn’t expect that to improve anytime soon.

“It hurts,” Kyuhyun says, his voice a hoarse whisper, “it hurts so badly, hyung.” He looks up at Heechul with those big eyes filled with so much pain. 

Heechul doesn’t know what to say. His own legs are radiating with pain from the extensive practice, and it takes all of his strength to reach into his own bag to pull out the bottle of painkillers with the prescription label on the side. He needs to stretch and ice his muscles, but even that can’t stop the aching in his bones. So instead he sits back down next to Kyuhyun, pops a few pills, and washes them down with a gulp of water.

The others are all walking out the door, ready to fight to be the one to shower first back in the dorms, but Siwon looks back. He pulls Hankyung with him, and the two walk towards the invalids.

“Here, let me help you,” Siwon says, reaching for Kyuhyun’s bag. He pulls the strap over his shoulder and helps Kyuhyun to his feet. 

Hankyung grabs for Heechul’s bag, but Heechul reaches it first. “Just help me up,” he says. “My legs still don’t work.” 

God, he sounds like a grandfather at the ripe old age of 24. They’re all supposed to be young and fit, Korea’s golden boys, and yet here they are with broken bodies that barely let them walk, let alone dance. Maybe they really had been doomed from the start like they’d always suspected: the reject trainees not good enough to get into DBSK destined to fail. They had just started to gain momentum when the first accident had happened, and now they’re on their second hospital rotation. Maybe they are still a rotational group, just rotating in and out of the hospital instead of in and out of the band.

The four of them slowly hobble out to the vans to take them back to the dorms. Kyuhyun looks close to passing out by the time Siwon gently situates him into the seat in the van. Heechul sits down next, and the other two climb into the back. Kyuhyun leans against Heechul, and the manager puts the van into drive.

*

They win the  [ Artist of the Year award ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAfu94HC8x4) after the year from hell, and Heechul watches as everyone else blinks back tears. Jungsoo talks first, trying to thank the fans and swallow the lump in his throat simultaneously. Hankyung is next, giving a speech in Chinese that Heechul doesn’t understand. 

And then it’s his turn to speak, and in that moment, surrounded by the members and the cheers, all he can say is:

[ “Thanks for the award, but I’m more grateful that Kyuhyun can stand onstage with us.” ](http://plincess-cho.tumblr.com/post/138246677879/2007-mkmf-super-junior-cut-i-know-were-all-upset)

The audience cheers, and Heechul pulls Kyuhyun close as Donghae talks into the microphone for his own speech. Kyuhyun lets him pat his cheeks, rolling his eyes slightly but grinning nonetheless. They both can walk again without crutches again, and tonight, they’re going to celebrate more than just this award.

“We’re going to be okay, aren’t we, hyung?” Kyuhyun asks when they’re backstage in the dressing room.

“Of course we are, kid,” Heechul replies. “Of course we are.”

*

They talk about it years later when Kyuhyun brings it up during their [ _Intimate Note_ filming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm1czcWXHkY) . “When we had some unfortunate happenings, you took really good care of me,” he yells from the building’s ledge. The rest of the speech is prepared, and Heechul can tell, but the first part is genuine. 

Kyuhyun brings it up again later when they’re in the van driving back to the dorms. Heechul’s still pissed at Jungsoo for ambushing him and Youngwoon and Hankyung for going along with it, but he’ll deal with them later. 

“I meant what I said earlier,” Kyuhyun says, “about you taking good care of me. I really appreciated it then, and I appreciate it now.”

Heechul snorts, but he softens a bit. “I couldn’t let you go through it alone,” he replies.

“I needed you then, and I need you now,” Kyuhyun says, his voice soft so only Heechul can hear. 

Heechul turns to look at him and meets Kyuhyun’s eyes, big and earnest staring back. “I mean it, hyung,” he says. “I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

It’s unbelievably  _ sappy _ , just like Kyuhyun is when he’s not being a little shit, but Heechul knows he means it. He gives Kyuhyun a half smile and wants to reassure him, but Heechul’s never been the reassuring type.

After all, it’s been a rough year, and he still has this nagging feeling that everything is about to get much worse. “Sorry Sorry” has skyrocketed them to the top of the charts and has won them more awards than they can count. It’s great and wonderful and they’re doing  _ so  _ well and it feels like they’re  _ finally _ succeeding after years of failure and obstacles.

Except…

Except Kibum’s disappeared on hiatus, and nobody knows when he’s coming back. Hankyung’s retreated so far into himself it feels like he’s disappeared too, and the others… The others are scared about what the future will look like. Jungsoo’s trying to manage it all, but he’s busier than ever and they didn’t really cover this during their time as trainees.

So instead, he reaches for Kyuhyun’s hand and says, “You’re going to be okay, kid.”

“But will you, hyung?”

*

Youngwoon’s conscription orders arrive, and before they know it, he’s left for the army. They all stand outside the training camp, looking rather pitiful as they send him off. He walks through the gates, and then… He’s gone.

They all ride back in silence, with Donghae and Jungsoo sniffling but not really crying. They had all sort of expected this to happen after the third scandal after all, but it still feels weird knowing that they will hardly see him for the next year and a half.

“I guess... we’ll all be going… eventually,” Donghee says, the first to break the silence.

“Except for me,” Heechul replies.

The others look at him quizzically until he says, “Can’t pass the medical exam.”

And then, it hits them. They may have forgotten about the accident four years ago, but Heechul remembers every single time he looks at the scars on his legs. He doesn’t complain; after all, success is pain, and this is just part of his allotment in life. Besides, nobody had wanted to hear him complain about how much things had hurt back then. They were still rookies after all, and nobody could really believe that the company had truly dropped the rotational concept like they’d promised. What if they rotated Heechul out because of his injuries? 

And thus, he’d spent the months after his discharge learning how to walk again and learning how to grit his teeth through the pain to the point where few people now know his legs still throbbed from overexertion after every practice.

“Lucky,” someone grumbles, and Heechul snaps. “I don’t think that nearly dying can be considered lucky.”

It feels like all the air has been sucked out of the van until Kyuhyun offers a small, “I guess this means I won’t be going either… Do I still have to shave my head?”

It’s enough to break the tension, and everyone laughs nervously and starts teasing him with an  _ Of course you’ll have to shave your head; we all will! _

They’ll all have to enlist, and the company hasn’t really talked about it yet. He and Jungsoo both have less than three years left before they absolutely have to go, but what if he goes early? He hadn’t considered it before now, but by the time they get back to the city, he’s made up his mind.

The company asks him to wait one more year, and then he can go. 

Heechul agrees.

*

They’re in Los Angeles on a  [ brief holiday ](http://plincess-cho.tumblr.com/post/147040770209/hyukwoon-hxxnim-kim-kyu-said-that-you) after finishing their Super Camp circuit, and Kyuhyun is currently a lethal combination of tipsy and jetlagged. He’s singing something from a demo album that nobody else has heard yet, and Heechul thinks it doesn’t sound half bad. 

But suddenly, Kyuhyun stops singing and turns to Heechul. “It’s going to be okay, right hyung?” 

“Is what going to be okay?” Heechul asks. 

“You know,” Kyuhyun says. “Public service.”

Oh.  _ That. _

Heechul really can’t believe it’s nearly time for their youngest to enlist already. Even though the Super Junior members have been rotating in and out of the military since 2010, it still seems that Kyuhyun shouldn’t have to go. After all, his fate had been sealed on that rainy night when he’d laid strewn across the pavement, bloody and slipping in and out of consciousness. 

Kyuhyun normally refuses to talk about enlistment with anyone and changes the subject whenever it comes up, so Heechul finds it curious that he would mention it now, until he realizes. They’re alone, just the two of them, which is beyond rare these days, and Heechul is really the only one who understands.

Jungsoo had given the others advice about enlisting into active duty, telling them what to bring and how to deal with being a celebrity in the army. Yet Kyuhyun doesn’t have anyone else to tell him how to prepare for public service. The two of them don’t know too many people who have enlisted in public service rather than active duty, and so far most of what they’ve heard from the other members have been horror stories about the early morning marches, the grueling tactics training in the dead of winter, or the inedible slop served in the mess hall. Since Kyuhyun will only be attending boot camp for a few weeks before working in a public service office, he won’t be encountering most of those particular traumas.

“The food in basic is really terrible,” Heechul says, trying to keep things lighthearted. “But don’t lose too much weight. You know how you always get sick.”

“Yes, mother,” Kyuhyun replies with a chuckle, but his face grows anxious. He’s received more than his share of depressed collect calls from Changmin during his stint in basic, complaining about the food, the drills, and the  [ cockroaches ](https://twitter.com/kikiikyu/status/739414509459148801) . 

Heechul knows that the other members are all really worried about him. They’ve always fussed over him any time he does as much as cough, and Heechul admits that he’s the same. Those car accidents had been a cruel twist of fate that had irrevocably bound them together, and ever since the hospital, he’s tried his best to ensure that Kyuhyun won’t have to suffer like he has.

He wants to explain the mental toll that the isolation had had on him during his own service period. He’d lived in the dorms following his return from basic training and had used the metro to commute to the public service office, just like Kyuhyun would. Going from the hectic, glitzy, high-stakes world of entertainment to the monotonous daily duties of a public service worker had required a significant adjustment, especially for someone who had always claimed to have been born to be in the spotlight. Keeping a low profile after trying his hardest to get his name in lights had been one thing, but watching his members continue to conquer the world without him had been quite another. There had been multiple nights where he’d been in the dorms alone with his cat, sloshing through multiple bottles of soju in an attempt to ease his loneliness.

But for now, he says, “Yeah kid, it’s going to be alright.” He throws an arm around Kyuhyun’s shoulders and gives him a squeeze. “It’ll be alright.”

*

The two of them  [ stay late ](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq6ca1ABr8x/) after the Super Show 7 concert in Tokyo: Heechul to spend time with friends and Kyuhyun to take the Japanese proficiency exam he’s been studying for during his enlistment period. He’ll ace it, Heechul has no doubt about that. Besides being naturally gifted in academics, he’s spent nearly every spare minute practicing with Changmin in the weeks leading up to the exam. 

Heechul comes back from dinner to find Kyuhyun rolled onto his side, flipping through TV channels, and for a moment, it reminds him of all those years they’d all spent in the dorms, crowded in the living room watching television together and fighting over the remote. That had been in the years before smartphones and streaming with the members arguing over who got to use the ancient desktop computer they had in the corner of the living room.

Kyuhyun still lives in the dorms, even though everyone else has moved out, and it reminds Heechul of serving his enlistment period in the dorms when everyone else was out touring and promoting. He had felt like he’d been left behind, even though he had been the one to enlist early, and that’s why he had moved out to his own apartment before Donghae and Ryeowook could move out first. It had been one of the few times that Heechul had left before someone else could leave him, but that hadn’t made it any easier.

Yet with Kyuhyun, it’s different. He argues that it’s cheap (it is) and convenient (sort of), but Heechul really thinks that he’s far too nostalgic for the dorms to live anywhere else. Not not, not when he needs some semblance of his old life to hold onto until he returns. In some ways, it’s like he’s still holding onto a part of the past, to those days where they all spent practically every day together running towards the same goal of conquered the world. These days, it seems like they’re all flung across the city, busy with their own lives. They all are running in different directions now: towards acting, towards philanthropy, towards directing, towards the military. They’ve become the multi-faceted rotation group the company had always wanted them to be. 

He stands in the entryway, staring at Kyuhyun and remembering the first day that he’d met him, all those years ago. Kyuhyun had been a skinny kid with a big head and a set of vocal chords that outmatched everyone else. Everyone had hated him, fearful that he would take their place in an already tenuous group. Heechul wonders what would have been different if they had known all of the pain that they would suffer through together in the years that followed.

Kyuhyun looks up to see him standing there and scoots over so that Heechul can have space to sit down on the bed. Heechul nods but goes first grabs a bottle of water with which to choke down some medicine. The pain in his legs is getting worse these days, and he’s still feeling the effects from the concert the night before.

Kyuhyun gets up off the bed and asks if he needs help stretching out his muscles, but Heechul waves him off. He’d already met with a physical therapist that morning to work through things and has an another appointment tomorrow to look forward to. “No, but thanks, kid.” He gingerly sits down on the bed and curses inwardly. He grimaces as he tries to find a comfortable position, and Kyuhyun waits patiently before sitting down next to him.

“Hyung?” Kyuhyun says, and Heechul turns to look at him. “It’s going to be okay.” He offers a sympathetic smile, the one Heechul has seen so many times over the years when they’d both been sidelined by the aftereffects of those terrible accidents. 

He chuckles in spite of himself and says, “Yeah, kid, it’s going to be okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are love ♡
> 
> [Twitter](twitter.com/plincess_cho) / [Tumblr](plincess-cho.tumblr.com)


End file.
